A service that helps fight book and article piracy is
gaining popularity. Called Attributor, it scans billions of pages on the
internet to find the locations where books or other textual material is being
housed without authorization and asks for it to be removed. It works in 13 language and its first two
publishing clients are Hachette Book Group and John Wiley & Sons.
I’ve discovered my book, “Your Writing Coach,” on the web in its entirety a couple of times but of course it could be on many more sites without my knowledge—these days the pirates are clever enough to change the title and author’s names so a simple Google search doesn’t necessarily discover them. These pirated works may be hosted on sites that will take them down only if you find them and demand their removal.
I wonder whether it would work to include a unique combination of words in your book—something like “angry Sicilian monkeys”—and then periodically Google that phrase. Of course you’d have to figure out some way to justify the phrase in the context of your book…
If you want to read more about Attributor and get a link to a video demo, click here.
(And for tips on how to be more creative, with and without angry Sicilian monkeys, subscribe now to my free monthly Brainstorm e-bulletin by sending an email request to [email protected])
